Adventures of Seventh Heaven
by AnimeAngel90
Summary: A collection of one-shots about our favourite Seventh Heaven residents. Set from anytime after the game, and in various stages of the relationship between Cloud and Tifa. Please feed the plot bunnies and review!
1. Flowers

**Hey everyone! Wow, its been a long time since I've written anything. Over the last few months I have become quite attached to Final Fantasy VII (despite never playing any of the games) and have fallen completely in love with Cloud/Tifa. After reading some excellent fanfictions from some rather fantastic authors on here, I decided to have a go at writing some of my own. Please, tell me what you think! I'll write more if I get reviews!**

**1. Flowers**

Murderous impulses can start so innocently sometimes.

"Tifa, where did this come from?"

Tifa glanced up from the sink to see Marlene tilting her head at the vase sitting on the end of the bar. "Oh, do you like it?" she asked with a smile, moving to refill Denzel's glass of orange juice. She got a muffled 'fank you 'ifa' in reply, and gently scolded him for talking with his mouth full again.

Marlene nodded, putting her toast down and jumping off her stool to go and smell the flowers in the vase. "They smell really pretty!" she proclaimed, reaching out to brush the petals of the flowers. "Did you buy the vase too?"

Tifa shook her head, returning her attention to the coffee mug she was cleaning. "No, it was just something I had lying around the bar. I think Barret gave it to me when he brought those flowers for your birthday this year," she replied, smiling softly.

Denzel finally swallowed and turned his head to look at the flowers too. "Those are kinda pretty Tifa" he admitted, though it was obvious he was much less enthralled than Marlene. "Did you buy them at the store yesterday?"

She shook her head. "No, I didn't buy them. Though they do brighten up the place a bit, don't they?"

Marlene nodded eagerly. She loved flowers and was always trying to persuade Tifa to have some in the bar. "Well, where did they come from?"

Tifa flushed slightly at the little girl's question, returning her attention to the sink. "Oh… a customer gave them to me last night," she said off-handedly, not noticing the way bright blue eyes snapped up at her remark.

Marlene's eyes lit up. "Oh! Was it that customer who kept saying how pretty you are Tifa? He seemed really nice, he was talking to you and staring at you the whole night" she said happily, also not noticing the rather deadly vibes coming from the small table set up behind the kids.

Denzel frowned into his glass. "I didn't like him," he mumbled, looking cautiously back at Cloud.

Tifa merely nodded, still focusing on the sink. "Yes, it was him. He said something about how I deserved some nice flowers. I thought they might look nice in the bar, and I couldn't really say no," she continued, flicking her hair out of her eyes with her pinky.

Marlene beamed. "See, I told you flowers would be a good idea!" she chimed, moving back to her stool to resume eating her breakfast.

Denzel scowled. "I still didn't like him," he muttered.

"Tifa."

Both children started as Cloud suddenly appeared between them, staring intently at Tifa.

She looked up, her bright smile faltering a little at the serious look in his eyes. "Yes Cloud?" she asked uncertainly.

"Your customer was wrong," he answered, blue eyes not leaving hers.

"Oh?" Tifa felt a little confused and a little hurt too. Cloud didn't think she was pretty?

"Yes," he nodded firmly. "You're not just pretty, you're beautiful."

"…oh," was all she could respond, staring at him.

He nodded again. The completely serious look on his face and his matter-of-fact tone told her he was telling her the truth.

Marlene then elbowed him. "You're supposed to give her something after saying that!" she hissed.

Cloud blinked down at the girl, looking vaguely bewildered. He quickly glanced around the room, searching for something like Marlene meant. Tifa ducked her head, hiding the small smile on her face.

"Umm, here," he said quietly.

Tifa looked up again to see Cloud brandishing an empty coffee mug at her, looking down at his shoes.

She burst out laughing and accepted the mug, giggling at how much Cloud now looked like an adorable little boy. "Why thank you Cloud," she teased, smiling as he blushed.

"You're welcome," he mumbled, glancing down at Marlene who was now shaking her head at him in mild disgust.

Still laughing, Tifa leaned over the bar to kiss him. "It sounds much nicer when you say it anyway," she breathed against his lips, before pulling back and moving upstairs to start getting Marlene's school things ready.

Cloud stayed where he was, a silly grin on his face. Marlene scoffed at him and hopped off her stool as she went to help Tifa. "Boys! You're all so silly!" she grumbled, though she was smiling at the cute moment between her guardians.

Cloud then felt a small poke in his side, and turned to look at Denzel. "Cloud, you'll be staying here tonight, won't you?"

Cloud nodded, his eyes straying to where Tifa disappeared. "Of course."

Denzel smiled. "Good. If you're here, you can stop that guy trying anything. He's not even close to being good enough for Tifa," he declared, returning his attention to his breakfast.

Cloud smiled at that, moving around the bar to finish the washing up.

Denzel then looked up from his breakfast again. "Hey Cloud?"

"Yes?"

He hesitated. "If you're staying here today, can I help you with Fenrir after school?" he asked, eyes shining and hopeful.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Well, what can you offer me in return?" he replied, gently teasing.

Denzel considered this for a moment. "Uhh… I can point out that guy if he comes in tonight?" he said hopefully.

Cloud smirked. "Deal."


	2. Thief

**Hello again. Here is the second one of my cloti works, also written in about 1-2 hours after getting the idea. Again, please let me know what you think!**

2. THIEF!

Cloud walked into the garage, and froze. Denzel, who was walking behind him and chatting about school, didn't see him stop and then bumped into him. Confused, he looked up at his adopted father. "Cloud? What's wrong?"

Cloud was still frozen, staring out into the garage. Raising an eyebrow, Denzel followed Cloud's gaze, but he couldn't see anything wrong. The garage was as messy as always…nothing unusual there. It did look like Tifa had given it and put away a few things though, which he felt vaguely guilty for. But there was nothing really missing… hang on…

"Cloud? Where's Fenrir?"

Cloud blinked… and blinked again. But no, his bike was still gone. He frowned. "But I just…" he muttered, moving into the garage. He could tell exactly where Fenrir was parked because it was the only part in the garage free of parts, and spare tires, and all other knick-knacks he had lying around. And of course, there was a small path free of clutter to the garage door, which was how he got Fenrir inside in the first place.

But he could've sworn he'd just parked Fenrir there a few minutes ago. He come home from work, gone inside to speak to the children while they ate – Marlene being more chatty than usual, and grinning the whole time – then Denzel had asked if they could go work on Fenrir. So he came back out here, and it was gone.

Denzel also moved inside the garage, being a little frightened of how Cloud was staring at the room, muttering random phrases under his breath. He then spotted a piece of paper stuck to the nearby wall, and darted over to get it. When he read it, he swore under his breath, looking around guiltily to make sure Tifa didn't swoop into the room and scold him for it. "Umm, Cloud?"

Cloud looked over, still frowning. "Yes?"

"Maybe you should read this," he said, though he sounded a little amused.

Quirking an eyebrow, Cloud moved over to accept the little piece of paper from Denzel. One look, and he also swore, though much louder, and also looked around to make sure Tifa didn't appear and scold him.

The little innocent piece of paper contained a lovely little drawing of a certain ninja and her Conformer sitting on his bike, with the words WUTAI POWER written under it.

Cloud seethed, glaring at said insulting piece of paper as though trying to burn a hole in it. He then scowled and scrunched it up, throwing it over his shoulder.

"Aww, now I thought that was a lovely piece of work."

Both boys turned to see Tifa leaning against the doorframe, trying not to smile too widely. Both were instantly afraid she'd heard them swearing and looked down at the floor.

Smiling, Tifa stood up, folding her arms in front of her. "So now I have a few jobs for you two. If you do what I say, then Fenrir will come home," she said innocently.

Cloud's jaw dropped, while Denzel just looked vaguely stunned. Tifa giggled. "That's right. I've been telling you and telling you two to clean this garage and your rooms for weeks, and you've just ignored me. So, drastic measures have been taken. You do your jobs, you'll get your bike," she declared, quite enjoying the matching looks of horror on her boys' faces.

Cloud in particular looked rather betrayed. "But, Tifa, I need Fenrir to work tomorrow," he pleaded, looking anxious.

Tifa laughed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Well, you should have no dramas doing this by tomorrow," she teased. "Besides, you don't have to work tomorrow, you took the day off remember?"

Denzel glanced furtively around the room, before cautiously moving to the stairs. "Well, I better go do my homework," he said quietly, but Tifa stopped him with her hand on his shoulder.

"Not so fast my little man. I thought the loss of Fenrir might not be enough for you, so I moved the television into Marlene's room," she said cheerfully, enjoying the look of absolute horror that formed on his face.

"But Tifa!"

"No buts, just do your jobs and your toys will be returned," she said, looking amused as Denzel just scowled and stomped off to his room.

She then glanced back at Cloud, who had a rather calculating look in his eye. She frowned, guessing his train of thought. "Oh, and if you just go find Yuffie and take Fenrir back without cleaning anything, I won't kiss you for a week," she threatened cheerfully, blowing a kiss at him before turning and moving back inside the house.

Cloud was stunned. An… an entire week? But that wasn't fair! This was manipulative! And sneaky! And he didn't like it!

He moved to catch up with her in the hallway, tugging on her hand to get her attention. "Tifa."

She turned, eyes innocent. "Yes?"

He moved closer, eyes pleading. "I don't want to have to go a whole week without kisses," he murmured, tilting his head down towards hers.

She sighed happily, tilting her own head up. When their lips were nearly touching, she smirked. "Don't go after Yuffie then," she breathed against his lips, and he jerked back in surprise. "And I still don't see a clean room!" she declared, ducking away from his arms and moving back into the house.

Cloud stared after her, still stunned. That didn't go the way he'd planned. Since when did she become immune to him? He pouted. That was cheating! He scowled, and stomped down the hallway. _Fine. I'll clean the stupid room. _

Meanwhile, Denzel was being kicked out of Marlene's room. She wouldn't even let him watch the television in her room. He pouted. That still didn't work. He scowled, and stomped down the hallway. _Fine. I'll clean the stupid room._

A few hours later, both rooms were clean, and Fenrir was suddenly returned with no visual of the ninja who had stolen it. She apparently knew better than to get in Cloud's way. Cloud, feeling rather triumphant, moved into the bar area to reclaim his kiss from Tifa. He spun her away from the chopping board, tilting his head down to kiss her.

But to his everlasting frustration, she ducked away again, returning her attention to the vegetables she was trying to cut before interruptions from far-too-attractive blond men. "Well Cloud, I see the dishes in the sink need washing," she teased.

Feeling put-out, and a little guilty for being whiny about jobs Tifa did every day, Cloud moved up behind her, brushing her hair to one side of her neck and moving his hands to her hips. "I might need a kiss to get me started though," he breathed against her neck, running his lips over the tempting skin.

Tifa shivered, putting the knife down and turning around to wrap her arms around his neck. "Just one?" she teased, moving closer.

Cloud considered, tilting his head in a manner Tifa still found adorable. "We'll see," he smirked, before kissing her.

The passionate moment was soon interrupted by a squeal of outrage from upstairs. "Tifa! Denzel's trying to take the television!"

"You said I could have it after I cleaned my room, and its clean!"

"I never agreed! Tiiiifaaa!"

Chuckling, Tifa moved away. "Guess we better go sort this out then," she said, causing Cloud to smirk at the breathless quality to her voice before she started moving upstairs.

He then frowned. "Denzel's just lucky Marlene isn't as good at manipulating as you," he muttered, following her.

She just grinned cheekily at him over her shoulder. "Well, now I know what will work next time," she teased, blowing another kiss as his horrified expression.


	3. Hurt

**Wow, I'm actually amazed at how much feedback I got for just the first two one-shots...looks like I'm just going to have to write more! Here's the next instalment, and please tell me what you think. Reviews encourage the plot bunnies and get you more fanfics!**

Marlene was practically skipping as she made her way home from school. Denzel had insisted on walking with her most of the way for some reason, practically hovering over her shoulder the whole time. As soon as Seventh Heaven was in sight, he'd said to her "You should be fine from here!" as though she wasn't capable of walking home by herself. He then ran off to play with his friends, leaving a slightly puzzled Marlene in his wake.

But the reason Marlene was practically skipping was that Tifa had promised to let her help make dessert for tonight's bar patrons. Marlene loved making food with Tifa, especially if it was something sweet. Tifa always let her taste the batter and lick the spoon, and it was lots of fun to cook with Tifa.

To her delight, it looked like Cloud was home early today. It was always more fun when Cloud was home too. He and Tifa would always make lovey-dovey eyes at each other over the bar (at least, that's what Denzel's friend called it when she was visiting one day), or he'd make some silly remark and Tifa would try and swat him with the spoon. Either way, Tifa would be distracted enough for Marlene to steal even more mixture.

Now definitely gleeful, she burst through the door with an energy only a young girl like herself could muster up. Her step faltered slightly as she realized Tifa wasn't behind the bar, smiling at her and asking how her day was. Instead, Cloud was sitting in one of the booths near the door, looking up at her in surprise. "Marlene!"

Marlene smiled. "Hi Cloud!" she said, dropping her schoolbag and practically bouncing over to him. "What are you doing?"

He frowned, gesturing at his arm. Marlene jumped up onto the booth beside him, peering curiously over at his other side. He was trying to bandage a long cut along his forearm, and doing a quite awkward job of it.

She gasped. "Cloud! What happened?"

He shifted awkwardly beside her, his expression like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar (an expression Denzel had when Tifa caught him trying to steal brownies the day before). "I was trying to clean up the bar for Tifa when I scratched my arm on some broken glass," he said softly, gesturing with his uninjured arm.

Marlene frowned. "Where is Tifa?"

He shifted again, blue eyes back on his arm. "She's sleeping. I didn't want to bother her."

Marlene huffed. "Well you're not doing a very good job," she replied, climbing out of the booth and moving around the other side to sit next to Cloud's injured arm.

He smiled slightly. "I have more practice using my other arm," he said gently, causing Marlene to frown at the memory of Geostigma.

"Well, looks like I will have to help you," she declared, kneeling beside him on the booth as she grabbed at the bandage. "I used to help Denzel a lot," she said, swallowing at the thought, "so I can definitely help you too."

Cloud didn't say anything as Marlene bit her lip in concentration while she carefully wrapped his arm up. When she was done, she leaned down to kiss the top of the bandage. When Cloud raised his eyebrows, she smiled. "That's what Tifa does when she's fixing our cuts, like when Denzel hurt his wrist last week," she said.

Cloud smiled back, ruffling her hair. "It feels better already Marlene" he said before leaving the booth and heading over to the bar. "Uhh, did you want something to drink?"

She nodded, following him and perching on a bar stool. "Yes please!" At Cloud's lost look when he opened the fridge, she giggled. "Tifa usually keeps the juice in the bottom of the fridge door," she explained.

Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, Cloud gave her the bottle of juice while he ducked under the bar to find the plastic cups the family used, all decorated by Marlene. The first one he pulled out she made a face at. "No, that's Denzel's." Smiling, Cloud brought out another one. "That's yours Cloud!" she giggled, knowing he was purposefully not getting her cup.

He grinned. "I know," he said before stealing the juice and pouring himself a cup. She gasped in mock horror, and he laughed as he finished drinking before ducking back down to collect her cup. "Just for that, I'm not telling you where the brownies are!" she laughed, sipping at her juice.

Cloud smirked. "Trust me Marlene, I always know where the brownies are," he replied, reaching back into the fridge to collect the box of brownies. Marlene raised an eyebrow as he opened the box – she knew there were more brownies there this morning. At her accusing glance, Cloud flushed. "Guilty as charged," he said quietly, popping another one in his mouth.

She giggled again, and the next few moments were spent in silence while they had their snack. Marlene then put her cup back on the table, frowning slightly. "Cloud?"

"Yes Marlene?"

"Why is Tifa sleeping?"

He turned away from her to put the juice back in the fridge, but his face looked a bit pink. "She… didn't get much sleep last night," he replied quietly.

She frowned. "Oh? But she went to bed pretty early; did she have nightmares?" she asked in concern

Cloud busied himself with washing out his cup in the sink, not looking at her. "No, she's alright."

Marlene raised an eyebrow. "Well why else wasn't she sleeping? Did you watch some movies without us?" she asked with a pout.

Cloud shook his head, his face still pink. "No, we didn't watch any movies," he said, sounding a little uncomfortable.

She paused to consider, tilting her head as she thought. "Were you playing games then? That's what Yuffie says adults do instead of sleeping sometimes."

Cloud choked at that, and Marlene, looking rather concerned, leaned over the bar to pat his back. "Cloud, are you ok?" she asked.

He nodded; his face flushed a dark red. Without another word, he turned to leave the room. "Wait Cloud, where are you going?"

He paused, picking up his phone from the end of the bar. "I need to call Yuffie," he said through clenched teeth, sounding a little annoyed. His face was still quite red, and Marlene watched him go with a look of bewilderment on her face. Adults were so strange sometimes.

She then spied the unattended box of brownies on the bar, and grinned. Just one more couldn't hurt – she could always say Cloud ate it.


	4. Exam

**AN: I'm so sorry it took me so long to get another one out - I had exams and assignments to fret about, and then lost my motivation. As you can see, I've still got exams on the brain, lol. By the way, if anyone is interested in some final fantasy videos (many of which contain Cloti), please check out my youtube channel at AnimeAngel901. You want exact links, send me a message and I'll pass it on. I don't think links work in fanfics. I would love more feedback - like here, reviews feed the muse, and apparently make Word and Sony Vegas more co-operative.**

**Now, on with the show! I (sadly) don't own Final Fantasy :(**

Tifa bit her lip, clenching her fists in her lap. She hated exams. They were so stressful!

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Cloud watching her with concern, but she ignored him. He couldn't help her here. Though it would be nice if he could just do the exam for her...sadly, she didn't think the examiner would approve.

Sighing, she started taking deep breaths, trying to calm down. The butterflies in her stomach didn't really change, but she felt a little better. She noticed the examiner give her an encouraging smile, and the knot in her stomach stopped attacking her for a few brief moments.

She'd studied as best she could for this exam. Trying to sleep right (though she was so nervous this was often difficult), trying to eat right (Cloud had quickly learned not to give her any more sweets after she threw the powdered cake at him in rage for trying to ruin her diet), and reading everything she could get her hands on. She wanted to be prepared for everything, this exam was very important. She was going to ace it, she knew it!

Cloud hadn't been much better about this upcoming exam. He was nervously reading everything he could as well, something which was quite unusual for him. Tifa's stress was apparently rubbing off on him. However, he had to be very careful not to let Tifa notice his almost obsessive reading because she might want the book he was reading, and he didn't want her to hit him....again. He'd also started running around the neighbourhood – it helped him get rid of some of his energy. Or so he said the last time he took off, even though Tifa knew it was really because she'd started throwing her pencils at him. At least she could study in peace when he was gone and not fretting over her shoulder.

Their friends weren't anywhere near as nervous, which annoyed Tifa. She was stressed, so lots of things were annoying her, but this was unfair! This exam could make or break the rest of her life! Cloud said she was being too dramatic. She glared at him and stalked off to join the other guys instead. He stared in disbelief, and spent the rest of the day sulking and apologising.

She giggled at that memory. The examiner looked at her reproachfully and she quickly ducked her head. She felt Cloud shift in the seat beside her, and smiled. Her eyes flicked back up to the clock, feeling vaguely panicked and relieved at the same time. The exam was nearly over. She really hoped everything she had done was worth it. She needed to do well now or else...she didn't want to think about it.

A short while later, the examiner walked up to take their papers. She smiled slightly at Tifa's clenched fingers. "Don't worry, it's all over now," she said encouragingly, taking Cloud's paper as well. As she turned to walk back towards her desk, Cloud reached over to squeeze Tifa's hand. She smiled back at him, still feeling nervous.

The examiner sat down to enter some things from their papers onto her computer, then turned back with a grin. "Well, that went rather well, didn't it?" she said.

Tifa was still rather pale. "Did I pass?" she said anxiously, her grip on Cloud's hand tightening to the point where she heard a soft grunt from him.

The doctor nodded. "You passed with flying colours, Mrs Strife. You and the baby both seem to be in perfect health," she said, smiling again.

Tifa released a breath she didn't realise she was holding, and beamed as she turned to look at Cloud. He was smirking in that way he always did when someone called her by her new last name, but at her grin his lips softened into that sweet half-smile she loved so much. "You passed Teef," he said quietly, his grin widening as he leaned over to kiss her. "You're ok," he murmured against her mouth, and she knew what he really meant. He had been just as worried as her – terrified that something would go wrong. Reading everything he could about babies and hovering to make sure nothing could possibly hurt her or their baby. This alternated between endearing and annoying, depending on the time of day...and how long it had been since that last piece of chocolate.

The doctor beamed, turning back to her desk to give the couple a few moments privacy. Cloud pulled back, still smiling. "We're ok," he said again, and Tifa beamed, rubbing her nose against his. "Of course we are, we've got each other," she said softly, smiling.

The doctor delicately coughed to get their attention again. "Well, everything seems fine this time around, but I would like to make another appointment with you," she said, smiling softly at Cloud's look of alarm. "Just another check-up. I know how new parents can be, and we just want to make sure everything runs smoothly," she said.

Tifa nodded and made her next appointment, and the doctor issued them out. As they walked back towards Seventh Heaven, with Tifa curled protectively against Cloud, she sighed, blowing her hair out of her eyes. "I guess we should tell the others tonight," she said thoughtfully.

Cloud shrugged. "If you want. I'm amazed you didn't already tell them," he said with that little half-smile, and Tifa gasped, moving away from him.

She then punched his shoulder hard enough to cause another grunt of pain from her husband. "Cloud Strife, are you implying that I'm a gossip?" she said in mock anger.

Cloud tilted his head, looking her up and down, still with that little smile. "I don't know Mrs Strife, what do you think?"

She smirked. "I think you should explain to Barret how I can be three months pregnant when we've only been married for one month," she said, her eyes twinkling.

Cloud's eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed a soft pink. At Tifa's giggle, he frowned. "I'm sure Barret already knows _how_ it happened," he responded flatly, and Tifa's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. He then wrapped his arm around her waist again, heading back home. "He should be proud I waited that long," he said absently, cheeks still a soft pink.

She laughed, twisting away again. "Cloud, are you saying you were trying to take advantage of me, out of wedlock?" she said in mock horror.

Cloud frowned. "You weren't that opposed," he said crossly, though his eyes were laughing. Tifa just laughed again. "Besides, you were the once trying to seduce me," he continued, smiling at her look of shock.

"I was not!" she gasped, but her heated cheeks gave her away. As he laughed, she 'hrmped!' and turned away, still blushing.

Cloud came up behind her, snuggling her against him. "You were so," he chided gently, nuzzling her hair. "Walking around in those clothes, and touching me all the time...I thought I was going crazy," he murmured, kissing her neck.

She shivered and blushed, and Cloud licked his lips. "Hmm, no cinnamon this time," he said teasingly, his voice low as he bent to kiss her again.

Tifa's blush darkened, and she pulled away slightly. "Apparently you don't need any more encouragement," she replied dryly, cheeks a dark red as she continued walking back home.

Cloud smirked, and jogged the few steps to catch up with her, grabbing her hand. "It's your fault," he said mildly, and she shook her head, still blushing.

"You're terrible, Cloud Strife."

"But you still love me, Tifa Strife," he replied, kissing the side of her head. They walked in silence the rest of the way until he spoke again, just across the street from the bar. "Glad you passed your 'exam'?" he asked.

She nodded. "Very. Now I guess I can relax...as much as I can with you hovering over me every minute of the day," she said teasingly.

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, blushing. She smiled, and tilted her head up to kiss him softly. "It's ok, I don't mind. It's sweet."

He smiled back at her. She then grinned. "But one toe out of line and I'll kick you into next week," she said cheerfully, practically skipping towards the door.

Cloud sighed. "Can't Barret deal with this part?" he muttered as he followed her.

"I heard that."

**AN: Little bits and pieces in there were shout-outs to some of my favourite cloti fanfics - most noticeably, the fantastic works of the wonderfully talented kitsune13, one of my main reasons for starting to write cloti =D *hugs kitsune* If you haven't read her drabbles collection, or any of her other fantastic Cloti works, look her up right now! Should be in my favourites too. But yeah, she is fantastic, and you should all read her cloti and squee over its wonderfulness.**

**Please review! Angel**


	5. Gotta Tell You

**AN: Well, here I am again! Cloti inspiration strikes me at the strangest times - usually when I'm studying, lol. This latest one comes from one of my favourite songs: Samantha Mumba - Gotta Tell You. I was watching a KH/FF video to it on Youtube that involves our beloved cloti couple, and then I just started writing this. Strange, I usually don't write songfics. Plus it goes a bit weird in the middle. Ah well. On with the fic!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or the song.**

Tifa sniffed as she washed the glasses from that night. The customers kept asking if something was wrong. She'd managed to fend them off with vague comments about being tired and cheery waves, smoothly moving onto the next customer as though it was natural and not an avoidance of the topic.

One glass finished - he loves me.

One more - he loves me not.

He loves me.

He loves me not.

He loves me.

The lack of daisies made this game more time-consuming. Not to mention the fact that Tifa had never been an avid player. When the other girls would sit in the gardens, pulling apart flowers and despairing over this and that village boy, Tifa was learning how to beat up said village boys. Her father had once muttered that hers was the better method of determining relationships. She didn't understand then. She still didn't. Her fists couldn't protect her from his voice or his eyes or his smile.

Well...sometimes they could. But it only ever made him smile more.

Except for that one time....but he really should've known better.

_Your love for me came as a waterfall_

_Flowing inside me like never before_

_Your love for me, something I didn't see_

_But baby, I know better now_

But Tifa was tired of playing games. She was tired of glowing blue eyes and shy smiles stealing her breath away. She was tired of random little gifts, and the following long absences. She was tired of feeling alone. Tired of being a mother without a father.

So he came back. Again and again – he always came back. But what did it mean? What did any of it mean? So he brought back little souvenirs from his trips, sometimes even little desserts for her and the children. So he was lighter and seemed to interact more with the..with the family. So he smiled more and watched her a lot.

He still went away for weeks at a time, often with little warning. He still seemed confused if she ever spoke to him about anything personal. He still slept in the church some nights. She knew, she'd checked.

She'd finally snapped one day, and told him she just couldn't keep waiting indefinitely. She didn't come right out and say her feelings, but she knew he knew what she was talking about. Or so she hoped. You could rarely tell with Cloud.

_When you walked in the room that very night_

_A special feeling just burst inside_

_There was only you, nobody else_

_But baby, I know better now_

The sound of the front door opening jarred her from her reflections, and she frowned. "I was sure I locked that," she murmured aloud, freezing as she recognised the intruder to her home.

Cloud, icy mako eyes and all, stared at her with an unreadable expression. In her girlish dreams, he'd run over and kiss her, sweeping her off her feet and declaring how much he missed her. In her practical life, he just stared. She couldn't honestly say which option she preferred.

Though her heart protested, she didn't really regret what had happened.

_Don't wanna love you if you don't love me_

_Don't wanna need you when you won't need me too_

_Don't wanna tell you this now, but it wouldn't be right_

_If I, didn't tell you this tonight _

"Why did you do that?"

Tifa blinked, looking up from the glasses she'd resumed washing. "Hmm?"

Cloud was frowning at her. "Tifa," he said softly.

_And now you're back inside my house again_

_I'm trying deeper to explain_

_Cause baby I, want to get it on_

_And baby, you're the one for me_

She started moving the cloth over the bench, cleaning away imaginary spills. "You...you know what I said Cloud," she replied, hating the shaky quality to her voice.

He moved closer to the bar, still staring at her. She hadn't felt this trapped in her home for some time now.

_And now that I have got you all alone_

_After all this talking, on the phone_

_I should be strong_

_There's nothing wrong_

_I'll tell you this is where you belong_

"Why did you ring me?"

Tifa frowned. "Why shouldn't I?" she replied, trying not to remember the many, _many_ times he had not answered her calls. "I always have, even when you didn't care to answer." Oops, too late.

Cloud's eyes flashed briefly, and for a moment he looked deeply unhappy. "Tifa..."

"What?" she challenged, glaring back at him. _Don't break Tifa, don't break...I need this._

Cloud sighed, the skin around his eyes tightening as he watched her. "Tifa, please."

She smiled sadly. "Its...it's nothing," she said quietly, resuming her cleaning. Cloud watched her silently.

_Don't wanna love you if you don't love me_

_Don't wanna need you when you won't need me too_

_Don't wanna tell you this now, but it wouldn't be right_

_If I, _

_Didn't tell you this tonight _

Tifa looked back down at the bar. "One of my customers asked me out last night," she said softly, telling herself the sudden tenseness in the swordsman was a figment of her imagination.

Cloud's stance seemed casual, but she could tell...well, she thought she could...that he was faking it. "Oh?" he replied, his voice sounding forced.

She nodded, still talking to the wood. "Yeah – it was quite a surprise to me."

Cloud frowned. "Why are you telling me this?" he continued, his voice harsh.

Tifa felt the prickle of tears at the corners of her eyes. "Because I didn't know what to say to him," she whispered. She flinched slightly as she sensed Cloud's weight shift. He seemed to be about to step forward, but thought better of it.

_Don't wanna love you if you don't love me_

_Don't wanna need you when you won't need me too_

_Don't wanna tell you this now, but it wouldn't be right_

_If I, _

_Didn't tell you this tonight _

She continued talking to the bar in front of her. "I was...flustered. He asked again later, Cloud," she said softly.

Hearing movement, she looked up and was startled to see Cloud standing right in front of her. The fact they were still separated by the bar did little to ease her nerves at his proximity.

He looked...angry. But his voice was calm. "What did you say?" he finally said, still sounding forced.

Tifa looked away again, his piercing blue stare making her feel somehow guilty. "I told him I didn't know, though it was kind of him to ask," she murmured.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him tense. "Didn't know what?" he replied, voice low.

She kept her head down, feeling shy. She heard him sigh, and tilted her head further down away from him. Tifa felt somehow...ashamed. "I...I didn't know if I had a reason not to," she whispered, body tensing as she fought the urge to flee.

She then started as she felt a hesitant hand over hers. Tifa's head moved back up to meet his gaze, her lips parting slightly in surprise. "Cloud?"

Bright blue eyes watched her, and for the first time in a long time, she felt her heart was right.

_There was just something in your eyes_

_That made me realise_

_Now I hear voices deep inside_

_Telling me, telling me it's you and I_

"Tifa..."

His tone made her freeze, and she felt his fingers tighten over her hand. "I...I'm not...I'm not good..." he replied, still staring at her. It looked as though he would say more, but he kept silent, dropping his gaze.

But Tifa understood. She laid her other hand over his, smiling gently. "It's ok, Cloud. You're good enough for me," she said softly.

His head instantly jerked back up at her words, and she felt herself flush. "For us! For our family," she hastily continued, still pink. "We are a real family, aren't we?" she asked hesitantly, feeling shy at the way he was watching her.

Cloud just nodded, still staring. Her cheeks flushed darker as she realised another mistake. "And you...you're not just good enough. You're more than that," she said earnestly, quickly looking away. "Much more," she whispered, half-hoping and half-afraid he'd hear her. She'd already said more than she had meant to – might as well get it all out.

"Tifa..."

She started again to feel his other hand slowly curl under her chin, tipping her face back up to his - which was a lot closer than she'd thought. Her cheeks stubbornly refused to be anything but bright red. She wanted to break away, embarrassed beyond belief. But a part of her refused to move – aided by the intense look on his face.

His hand then slowly moved up to stroke her cheek, smoothing away a lock of hair. Tifa felt almost trapped by the look on his face as he watched her – drowning in his eyes. "Cloud..." she whispered brokenly.

That was apparently the last straw for Cloud.

_Don't wanna love you if you don't love me_

_Don't wanna need you when you won't need me too_

_Don't wanna tell you this now, but it wouldn't be right_

_If I, _

_Didn't tell you this tonight _

Tifa froze as he kissed her. It was somewhat awkward with the bar between them, but it was exactly what she wanted. Just like her and Cloud – awkward but still somehow perfect. Perfect when she knew – not just considered and hoped beyond belief (while trying to ignore that hope at the same time), but knew.

After a few long moments, he pulled away. Tifa blinked, breathing as heavily as he was.

Silence reigned for some time while the pair collected themselves. Cloud then moved around the bar to stand in front of her, Tifa's eyes watching him nervously. "I...I don't....I don't want you to go," Cloud said, his eyes threatening to drown her again. "I want...I want this," he said honestly.

Tifa felt tears forming at the corner of her eyes, and wiped them away as a bewildered Cloud watched. "You can never do anything the easy way, can you?" she chided gently, reaching over to squeeze his hand.

He kissed her again, a little surer of himself this time, though they were both still blushing quite badly. He then rested his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry if I...if I confused you," he said quietly, his breath tickling her face.

Tifa sighed, closing her eyes. "It's ok now. I just...I didn't want to keep waiting. When....the fact that I considered....I knew I had to tell you," she said softly. "But I didn't think you would come back home so soon."

Cloud blinked at her, moving back to stare into her eyes again. "Tifa," he chided, smiling slightly as she ducked to avoid his gaze. He then shrugged, waiting for her to lift her eyes again before he continued. "You needed me," he said simply, blushing at the bright smile that lit up her face.

Cloud then stumbled, caught off-guard as Tifa threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

_Don't wanna love you if you don't love me_

_Don't wanna need you when you won't need me too_

_Don't wanna tell you this now, but it wouldn't be right_

_If I, _

_Didn't tell you this tonight _

**AN: Well, there you go. I know it goes a bit funny in the middle - both Cloud and Tifa go from being angsty and feeling unloved to fluff, but the song was kinda prompting me to get a move on, lol. Also, its well established that they are fairly comfortable around each other - Tifa was just confused and afraid that she was reading Cloud wrong. And Cloud was being Cloud and unaware that he needed to actually say it for Tifa to be sure what he meant. Well, say it/kiss her. I think he preferred kissing her. We can all see that little smirk of his.**

**Please review!**


	6. Chocobo

**Wow, its been awhile. This story was actually written several weeks ago, but it wasn't going where I originally intended so I decided to just finish it and move on to other works. It's based shortly before Advent Children, and goes back to Tifa and the kids coping with the various changes in their lives. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Hope you enjoy it anyway though!**

Tifa sighed to herself, watching the children run ahead of her. After a long tiring week of bartending to endless amounts of customers (did Edge even have that many people?), she had made the decision (or rather, the decision was made for her) that today she was taking the day off. She'd barely started washing the dishes from breakfast when Denzel and Marlene practically kidnapped her from behind the sink!

Her, Tifa Lockhart, member of AVALANCHE and saviour of the world, was brought down not by some huge venomous monster – no, she was defeated by adorable little pouts and a "CLOSED!" sign scribbled on the back of a supplier's delivery note in huge blockish pink letters.

And after the children dragged her upstairs and told her to get ready, she was informed that they needed lots of energy for the day, and so there was no more cookies left in the house. Amused, she'd given in and decided to just go along with it.

After all, Denzel was still quite sick, and to see him so happy was rare. She certainly wasn't going to spoil his good mood by telling him he couldn't go outside today. And trying to say no to Marlene when she was in one of her moods? Cookies had been her only defence, and they'd already eaten those.

This was how Tifa found herself sitting on a swing in a nearly deserted park on the other side of Edge, watching Marlene and Denzel play tag as they ducked and weaved around the area. She smiled faintly as Marlene "tagged" Denzel, basically tackling him as she did so. Marlene then scrambled away giggling, and Tifa felt a brief moment of panic when Denzel didn't move. Apparently he was just recovering from shock though, because a second later he leapt to his feet with a cry of outrage, chasing his revenge with the same energy as before.

Tifa smiled again, shaking her head as she started to slowly rock back and forth on her heels on the swing. Denzel was only new to their family, but he was quickly worming his way into her heart. On his bad days, she ached to hear him cry when he thought no-one else was around, quickly changing to coughs when Marlene or Tifa came running to sit with him and talk soothingly as they changed the bandages.

But on good days, like today, it did her good to see the smile on his face. Today, as he ran after his foster sister, he was a normal little boy. He wasn't sick, he wasn't dying, but he made her heart constrict a little bit all the same. She still remembered the panic she'd felt when she'd first spoken to Denzel on the phone. Hearing his little voice all broken and begging for help, then hearing his cries of pain...it still hurt just thinking about it. She was grateful Cloud had been there – even if he still didn't actually answer the phone. He did ring back eventually, once Denzel had calmed down, and she'd ordered him to bring the little boy straight home.

Thinking of Cloud made her realise she should probably ring him to let him know what was going on. Maybe he was going to come home today – she should probably tell him where they were, just in case. She refused to think he was more likely to go home (_well, to her home and the kids' home – she wasn't sure _he_ called it home anymore_) if no-one was there to see him.

Pushing those thoughts from her mind, she pulled out her phone, waiting for his machine to beep. _"Cloud, the kids and I went to the park today. Denzel was really happy this morning, and I just couldn't say no – so I won't be opening the bar today. How about you Cloud, how have you been?"_ Sighing, she closed her phone, burying her face in her hands for a moment.

Marlene's cry of 'Tifa!' soon told her the kids had moved out of her immediate vicinity. Frowning, and fully prepared to scold them for running off without telling her, she followed Marlene's voice into the closest alley.

Inside she found Denzel and Marlene both crouched down near a small box, peering into it. At Tifa's arrival, Marlene turned to look at her with a worried look on her face. "Tifa! Tifa come see!" she said anxiously, pulling Tifa over to have a look.

Denzel watched Tifa move over beside him, his face much paler than before, most likely from the exertion from chasing Marlene around. Smiling sadly, she bent down to kiss the top of his head before peering into the box herself.

She gasped in surprise at her discovery. Inside the box was a little chocobo chick, cheeping miserably at them all. It was trying to stand up and escape the curious gaze of the strangers, but something was wrong with it. Tifa tilted her head to look at it, and realised its wing was broken, and something looked wrong with its leg too.

Marlene turned to look at Tifa, her eyes huge. "Tifa, what should we do?" she asked her guardian, whispering as though trying to calm down the clearly frightened chocobo.

Tifa shook her head, frowning. "I don't know Marlene...do you have any idea where it came from?"

Marlene looked at Denzel. "Denzel and I were just running around and we heard it cheeping...there's nothing on the box either" she said worriedly.

"It looks like it's been abandoned," Denzel said flatly. "Nobody wanted it when they realised it was sick," he continued softly, and Tifa wrapped her arm around him to hug him.

Marlene looked horrified. "But who could do something like that?" she asked, before frowning. "And it's not sick, it just looks hurt. Tifa, can we please keep it?"

Tifa blinked. "What?"

Marlene's eyes seemed to grow larger as she pleaded. "Please Tifa? It's got nowhere else to go and it needs someone to look after it! We can't just leave it here!" she declared.

"Well..." Tifa started, turning back to look at the chick. It cheeped miserably, still looking frightened. She sighed, feeling the sight pinch her heart. Marlene was right, it really couldn't stay here. Resigning herself to the inevitable (even if the inevitable did come in the form of an adorable chocobo chick), she nodded. "Okay Marlene. But you have to take good care of it, ok?"

Marlene nodded, beaming. "Thank you Tifa!" she cried, hugging her guardian from behind. She immediately went to scoop it up, and the chocobo went crazy.

A little while later, after some lecturing from Tifa about trying to grab wild animals in pain, the group set off back to Seventh Heaven. Tifa was carrying the chocobo in its cardboard box, warily keeping as far away from it as possible so it didn't bite her nose or something. Denzel had insisted on carrying it at first, but Tifa had seen how tired he was and gently refused.

The rest of the day then passed in a whirlwind of activity. First the kids found a better box for the chocobo, and lined it with old blankets. It was then Tifa's job to transfer the frightened thing into the new box, which happened _very_ slowly. Then Tifa had to go shopping to find some food for the chocobo. One of her regulars at the bar had spotted her at the market and after a brief conversation revealed he was rather familiar with chocobos. Apparently a family friend owned a chocobo ranch or something. Tifa wasn't quite sure, but she led her customer back to her house to get him to have a look at the little bird.

A few hours later (after Tifa cooked up a late lunch as thanks), the customer was gone again, leaving a bandaged up and sleeping chocobo in his place. As Tifa cooked dinner for herself and the children, the chocobo started waking up.

Tifa looked up from chopping carrots, and smiled at it. "There, isn't that better?" she said softly, tilting her head at it. The chocobo chirped, ruffling its feathers a few times as though trying to get used to the feel of the bandages on its wings.

She smiled. "Oh, here's some food for you. Mical said that this is what chocobos eat," she said uncertainly, kneeling down in front of it to place a small bowl of feed and a bowl of water in front of the box.

The chocobo eyed her warily, and waited until she was back behind the bar before moving. She watched it hop up and down a few times as it tested its legs. It peered around cautiously before slowly moving towards the food, soon munching away happily.

Smiling, Tifa picked up her phone. _"Cloud, the kids found a hurt chocobo in an alley near the park, and now its living with us. I think Marlene has already fallen in love with it. One of my customers was able to help me out with it, so it should be fine. Poor thing looks like it was abandoned. Denzel was rather upset by it...I'm worried about him. Talk to you soon."_

Sighing, she then picked up the piece of paper Mical had hastily scribbled on earlier, slowly dialling the number again. Mical had said that his friend Bill owned the chocobo ranch, and since Tifa didn't know what else to do with the chick, she had asked for his number. So far Bill hadn't picked up. It made her wonder if she was could keep it – but how was a chocobo supposed to last in the city? It was made for the open air and freedom...like a certain blond she tried not to think about too much.

Marlene then stumbled into the room, rubbing her eyes. After the excitement of their new pet wore off, she'd practically fallen asleep at the bar and Tifa had ordered her upstairs for a nap. She still looked tired, but if she rested any longer she wouldn't sleep tonight. Yawning, Marlene climbed up onto the nearest bar stool, smiling as Tifa poured her some juice. "Thank you Tifa," she said politely, before twisting around to look at the chocobo. "What happens now?"

Denzel came in after her, looking as small as he always did when he felt he was intruding. Tifa smiled warmly at him and gave him a cup of juice as well. "Well Marlene, I'm trying to talk to someone who can take it home."

Marlene's eyes widened. "But why? Can't it stay here?"

Tifa shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry Marlene. It doesn't belong here, and so it would only be unhappy here," she said, patting Marlene's hand and turning her back on the kids as she moved back to the fridge. "You...you shouldn't try to keep things that don't want to stay," she continued softly.

Marlene pouted, and Denzel stayed silent, staring at his juice. "But Tifa!" Marlene begged, leaning on the bar.

Tifa shook her head. "Sorry sweetie, but he can't stay. We'll have him for a few days until Mical's friend can pick him up I suppose, but that's it. Edge is no place for a chocobo," she said sadly.

Marlene pouted again. "Fine. Can...can I still name him?" she asked hesitantly.

Tifa looked amused. "As long as it's something your father could say with a straight face," she warned. Marlene had a bad habit of giving things adorably cute names (Cloud had almost fallen down the stairs when he heard her name for Fenrir), and Barret often struggled to say them properly. Marlene would never let him hear the end of it until he did, and just thinking about it made Tifa all giggly.

Denzel frowned. "Well Marlene, what will you call him?" Tifa frowned too, hating the way Denzel always ignored himself for them – he acted like his opinions didn't count at all sometimes. It was just little ways like this – he probably wasn't even doing it consciously – but it was always Marlene that decided everything. Denzel just helped. Tifa wasn't sure, but she thought it should be the other way around – the youngest child following the oldest. More proof her family wasn't normal.

Marlene tilted her head to look at the chocobo, a serious but rather cute expression on her face. Denzel watched her expressionlessly, and Tifa hid a smile.

Marlene then looked back at the others, frowning. "I can't think of anything!" she said in despair.

Denzel looked like he was also hiding a smile now. Tifa shook her head in amusement. "Nothing? Nothing your father could actually say?" she teased gently.

Marlene shook her head. "All it makes me think of is Cloud!"

And just like that, the smile dropped from Tifa's face. If Cloud was there, she would have teased him about it and felt all giggly at the soft blush it would cause to appear on his face. If Cloud was there he'd gently tell Marlene to change her mind. If Cloud was there...things would be so different.

Denzel gulped at the stricken look on Tifa's face, and Marlene instantly noticed it too. "Uhh, Denzel, help me pick a name!" she said quickly, dragging her foster brother away without any sort of protest.

Tifa picked up the phone.

"_Marlene...Marlene wants to name the chocobo. Do you know what name she picked? Cloud? She wants to name it after you. And I...damnit Cloud."_ She paused. "_If...if I hadn't changed the question, would... would you have answered? ...I...I still wear the ring. And so does Denzel! I...I'll call you when your next delivery is scheduled."_

She hung up, flicked her hair over her shoulder, and followed the children, a bright smile on her face.

On the other side of the world, Cloud felt another little piece of his heart die. "Tifa..."


	7. Party

**Hey everyone! Just a short one today - it was originally going to go somewhere different, but its been sitting in my folder for awhile, so posting it is! Anyone have any ideas for other prompts (muse being cruel and running away and all), let me know and I'll see what I can do!**

Cloud scowled from the corner, arms folded in front of his chest self-consciously as he shifted from foot to foot. "Tifa," he began, but she cut him off with a quick kiss to the cheek.

"Sorry Cloud, but you promised you'd come with me tonight," she said, smiling at his expression as she put her earrings in. "Besides, it won't be so bad."

His scowl deepened. "You're lucky I like you so much," he muttered, and she laughed before kissing him again.

"And you're lucky I don't drag you to these things every other night like I could," she replied, laughing again at the stunned look on his face.

"You wouldn't," he said mutinously, eyebrows lowering as he frowned at her.

She shrugged, eyes twinkling as she stepped away to fix her hair.

Cloud sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry Teef," he murmured, stepping over to kiss the top of her head before she started adding pins into it. "I know you don't really love the events either."

Tifa smiled, slowly pulling her hair into some elaborate knot at the back of her head (or at least, that's what it looked like to Cloud). "They're alright. At least we get to have some fun for awhile," she said gently, and Cloud felt a little guilty. "Unless you'd prefer I take someone else?" she continued cheekily.

His guilt abruptly vanished and he scowled again, ruining her efforts with her hair as he pulled her in close to him. "I don't think so," he growled against her, and she giggled.

Her giggling then stopped as he started kissing her neck. She inhaled sharply, shivering as his hands moved over her stomach. "Cloud, I just got my hair done," she breathed out, trying to sound annoyed and failing miserably.

He just smirked. "That can wait," he murmured.

Later that night, a very flustered Tifa and a smirking Cloud arrived at Yuffie's party, ignoring Yuffie's pointed questions about why the ever-punctual Tifa had been over an hour late.


	8. Explosion

**Hey everyone! This was actually started quite a few months ago, but I had a real difficult time trying to end it - just couldn't seem to find the right place. Finally finished it tonight though! This story ignores the fact that Cloud just miraculously turned up in the church at the end of AC, and assumes that the gang found him instead after the explosion. **

**Let me know what you think, and thank you very much to all of those who have added to this to their story alerts and favourites!**

Tifa smiled, feeling happier than she had in months. She turned back to the excited cheers of her friends, laughing at the way Yuffie bounced around the ship and cheered loudly, causing Cait to start shouting again. She clapped her hands with glee, almost feeling the need to jump around herself.

It happened so fast she almost missed it. From the corner of her eye, she saw an explosion. And her world stopped.

Yuffie froze mid-jump next to Tifa, hands flying to her mouth in shock even as Tifa moved forward, a heart-wrenching cry leaving her lips as her mind caught up to what her eyes were seeing. "Cloud!" she cried desperately. _Please, oh please let him be ok. Gaia, let him be alright._

One look at Tifa's horrified face told them all they couldn't rest until they found Cloud...and all of them hoped he was still alive when they did.

Tifa didn't really remember what happened after she saw that explosion. One minute she was staring at the flames, heart refusing to comprehend what her eyes were telling her and the next she was standing on the platform, staring out as the others began their search. Yuffie hovered anxiously nearby, clearly worried as her eyes alternated between watching the others and Tifa.

Tifa felt frozen in place. She wanted to go and look, to see for herself that Cloud was alright. Of course he was alright. He had promised her he'd come back. He promised her that he would always be there for her. And right now, she needed him. So he'd come back. He'd promised.

But there was still a tiny part of her, that tiny, traitorous, common sense that warned her that maybe he wasn't alright. She'd seen some of the wounds inflicted on him in his battle. She'd seen the explosion. Maybe he wasn't ok. Maybe something terrible had happened. _But he promised_.

And maybe he was ok, but he just wasn't coming back to her right now. Like when she finally admitted to herself that maybe he wasn't coming back after he left Seventh Heaven and she cried herself to sleep. She'd needed him then, and he hadn't come. Maybe this was the same thing. She hoped not. Her heart couldn't take much more of this not knowing. It hurt. _It hurt_ _a lot_.

She needed to find him and see him with her own eyes, but she was terrified of what she'd find. More terrified than she'd been when Marlene showed her the used bandages in the church. More terrified than she'd been when she saw those monsters surrounding Denzel. More terrified than when Loz was about to take Marlene away. She was terrified that her... best friend might actually be gone. Her heart cried out in protest, and the foot she'd been about to move remained rooted in place.

Half of her needed to see him, needed to know he was alright. _Needed to hold him close and_ _never let him go_. The other half of her was frozen, desperately trying to protect her from the horrible possibility – that maybe, just maybe, he _wasn't_ ok – hovering at the edges of her mind.

In the end, it was Barrett who found him.

When she heard Barret's call, she tensed, eyes widening. Yuffie squeezed her arm, eyes nothing but sympathetic, and bounded over to Barret to discover what Tifa could not. When she heard the cheerful shriek of "HE'S ALIVE!" Tifa stopped breathing from sheer relief. Knowing the truth, she then raced over to the others, heart pounding in her chest.

Vincent stepped in her way, frowning. "His injuries are severe, I would not look" he said quietly, but Tifa ignored him and pushed past. Instantly a cry escaped her lips, hand flying up to her mouth. So much blood. So many burns. But that was definitely a pulse. That's what mattered. That's all that mattered.

Yuffie pulled out her cell phone, quickly pressing buttons. "I'll call Reeve and tell him to come pick us up _now_ or else he's gonna meet my Conformer!" she declared, though her words couldn't hide the shakiness of her voice. The_ Shera_ wouldn't get them close enough to the hospital, they needed a car.

Cloud thought he heard something. A very slight sound...a humming maybe? He frowned, trying to place it. Eventually, he realised he might just see the cause of this sound if he opened his eyes. But that seemed to be a very difficult task right now. Finally, he cracked one eye open, then the other opened in confusion. White? All he could see was white. That was unexpected.

Frowning again, he tried to sit up. And couldn't. His chest...it felt really heavy. It hurt to move. But he wanted to know what was going on. He was very confused and...and a little scared. Nothing should be this quiet, and this bright. _It can't be a lab again..._

There! There was that noise again. He tried to turn his head to look, but his head hurt too. Something seemed to be trickling into his eyes from his forehead. But that was impossible. He could tell he was lying down and that his head was tilted back. His blood – and he knew that's what it was – shouldn't be moving into his eyes. He sniffed at the thought that it would be just like his blood to do something like defy gravity. Just like a part of him to do something abnormal and wrong. _Freak_.

At that thought, he experienced some peculiar feeling where it felt like his body was moving – tilting. But on his head. That alarmed him a bit, and he closed his eyes, as though that would stop the feeling of his head going into the ground as his feet moved up. Suddenly, the peculiar feeling vanished, and he realised he was still lying down. No head into the floor or anything. _That was weird_. Still a little scared. _Freak_.

A distinctly feminine giggle was the next thing he heard, followed by a male-sounding cough. He felt the sensation of a soft hand against his face. He frowned, trying to place it – that touch seemed familiar. He struggled to open his mouth, to acknowledge it. "Ti...Tifa?" he asked the air, his eyes hurting too much to open again.

He heard a soft sigh, and the hand moved away from his face. The pain above his eyes vanished, but his eyelids still refused to open. "Tifa?" he asked again, sounding small and afraid. He hated that, but his voice refused to be anything different.

He felt the hand move into his hair, smoothing the spikes back from his forehead. "Oh, my poor dear," a female voice murmured absently. "It's alright. We're going to take care of you. Everything's alright."

He frowned slightly, feeling sleepy. This wasn't Tifa. He tried again. "Mom?"

He heard a giggle. "Again? Why is everyone calling me their mother lately?" he heard, feeling the hand on his face slowly move down his body. She touched his chest, and the heavy, painful feeling there slowly left too, making him feel more sleepy.

A quiet male voice answered, and he felt a brief touch on his shoulder. "I guess they must be fond of you."

The hands on his chest moved over his legs and foot, the pain there slowly vanishing as well. "This one's a little too big to adopt," she replied, her tone teasing. Cloud sighed, drifting off into sleep again. Whoever these people were, they were confusing.

The hand on his shoulder tightened. "You hear that? Guess there's no place for you here."

Cloud was still confused, but nodded anyway, and went back to sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he was somewhere else. He could still see lots of white, but there was a definite 'room' structure rather than just white nothingness. And he could also hear things, which sounded like people talking and walking around somewhere nearby. But since they sounded friendly, he didn't mind the noise. He closed his eyes again. A few seconds later, his body decided to tell him it actually hurt a lot, and he stifled a gasp. He kept his eyes closed, trying to take stock of his injuries. Above his eye was itchy and prickled. His foot was protesting. His arms hurt a lot. His chest was really mad at him, and not afraid to show it. His hand was also tingling.

He frowned at that. That tingling didn't fit in with the rest of him. He slowly opened his eyes and focused on his right hand. And his heart stopped.

Using his right hand as a pillow was Tifa, the wolf ring he'd given her shining in the light. He frowned again. It couldn't have been comfortable for her to be sleeping in that position. Even though she was asleep, she looked absolutely exhausted, and his heart ached to see her looking so miserable. He still felt relieved though. His fear that he was in a lab again had faded upon seeing her. If some scientist was experimenting on him, Tifa wouldn't be here. She would make them leave, or get him out.

Tifa always made the bad things go away.

Cloud's hand had evidently fallen asleep under the pressure from her, but with her holding his hand (well, that's what it looked like she was doing, he couldn't really feel anything), he certainly wasn't going to complain. He was more worried about how uncomfortable she looked, and tried to move his hand. The slight movement he achieved caused pain to shoot through his chest and he groaned.

The sound seemed to wake Tifa, who stirred. Feeling guilty for waking her when she was clearly so exhausted, Cloud shut his eyes, hoping she would go back to sleep.

Tifa rubbed her eyes, stifling a yawn. Not sure what had woken her, she quickly checked over Cloud. He looked fine. Well, as fine as he could look at the moment. She forced herself not to stare at his injuries too much, as it made her want to cry. The doctors said it was a miracle he was even alive. She noticed he was breathing normally, and the machines indicated that nothing was wrong. "Nothing other than all those injuries," she muttered under her breath, glaring at them.

Her back then decided to let her know it didn't appreciate the way she'd been sleeping, and she stood up to stretch, oblivious to the sly glances from the patient next to her.

Hearing the door, she turned to see Marlene standing there, holding a tray of food and biting her lip while Denzel held the door open and determinedly didn't look at Cloud. "Hi Tifa, we...we thought you might be hungry" Marlene said quietly, offering up the tray without moving forward.

Tifa smiled sadly, beckoning the children closer. "It's ok, I don't bite" she said softly, her tone teasing even though her eyes were exhausted.

Still looking a little cautious, Marlene moved over, presenting the tray to Tifa. Hospital food really didn't appeal to Tifa, but Marlene was worried enough about her already. She moved her chair away from the bed, being careful to sit down in it slowly rather than collapse like she felt like doing. She smiled again as Marlene moved the trap onto her lap, childish eyes wide and imploring her to eat.

Denzel hovered nearby, looking anxious. "Tifa, you need to eat" he said quietly, and her heart broke a little at the mature tone to his voice.

She smiled, squeezing his arm. "I will, I'm just a little tired right now," she admitted.

"That's what you said last time" Denzel warned, folding his arms and glaring at her. She smiled, ruffling his hair and causing him to duck away from her touch as he tried to scowl.

Marlene moved over to Cloud's bedside, looking sad. "Oh, the flowers are dying" she said unhappily, looking at the tiny wildflowers she and Denzel had picked for Cloud.

"That's ok, we'll just have to get more, won't we Marlene?"

She sighed. "I know. I'm glad the flowers in the church are gone, but they would have looked a lot better."

Tifa squeezed Denzel's arm again as he tensed slightly. Marlene was right, the flowers were gone. Not long after Cloud was taken to the hospital, Marlene had dragged Denzel and Barret with her to Aerith's church to pick some flowers for him. To her dismay, the flowers had been replaced with a pool of water. She had been crouched at the edge when Denzel had jumped up behind her and scared her, causing her to fall in. Before Barret could intervene, she splashed him. And when the water hit his forehead, she was amazed to see the Geostigma fading away. She'd screamed, Denzel freaked out, and Barret came running over with his arm ready to fire. Eventually they all calmed down enough to realise the healing properties of the water, and had quickly spread the word.

Tifa still couldn't really believe it. Geostigma...gone. Something that had caused so much pain and heartache... something which made Cloud leave... was gone. Everyone spoke in amazement about this water that could heal – in fact, many were still sceptical. Tifa heard reports from the children about previous Geostigma sufferers anxiously hanging around the church, as though fearing the disease would return if they left the area for too long. In time, the fear would go away. Aerith would fix it, just like she fixed the sickness itself. She was good like that.

Aerith always made the bad things go away.

Tifa had a feeling Aerith had intervened with Cloud too. She was glad... so glad... and she pulled the children in close for a tight hug that was the only release of emotion she allowed herself now. "Thank you," she murmured into their hair, feeling close to tears. "Thank you so much."

Denzel was the first to squirm away, as she'd known he would. "Ti-fa!" he grumbled, before quickly becoming expressionless. "The lunch isn't that good," he mumbled shyly, rubbing the back of his head, a gesture which made her tears fade and her heart briefly stop.

"It wasn't just that," she said softly, smiling. "But yes, thank you for that too. Guess I better eat something huh?"

Marlene nodded fiercely. "Daddy says if you don't, he's going to drag you downstairs and kick your butt!" she said cheerfully, frowning in the way she always did when impersonating Barret. Tifa laughed and set about eating the admittedly horrible lunch – at least the kids had tried to get her the best parts. She was grateful.

Meanwhile, Marlene had climbed up onto the other chair, peering worriedly at Cloud. "Tifa? How...how is he?" she asked, turning her wide brown eyes to her foster mother.

Tifa froze for a moment, but continued eating in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. "He's...getting better Marlene," she said carefully.

The little girl frowned. "Daddy says 'Spike better be ready to leave soon, or else he's really gonna regret it'!" she declared, eyes widening at Tifa's barely stifled chuckle. "What?"

Tifa smiled. "Your father is just worried about Cloud," she replied. She then giggled. "However, your father tends to show his worry by threatening to beat someone up."

Denzel scowled. "I'd like to see him try!" he declared bravely, and Tifa hid a smile at the less-than-brave expression. Denzel hadn't come across Barret before the attack, and to both meet the man and see him shoot rapidly at something within the space of about one minute would make most men turn and run. Denzel, her little man, seemed content to avoid Barret, but bravely stand up to him when he wasn't there. She thought it was sweet.

Marlene thought it was suicidal. Her eyes widened. "Denzel, you can't fight Daddy!" she said, sounding horrified.

Denzel frowned. "What, you don't think I could?" he said, sounding a little hurt.

Marlene shook her head. "No way! Daddy has a gun Denzel, a gun! Plus he's like ten times as big as you!" she said, eyes still wide.

Denzel reddened. "He's not that much taller than me," he grumbled, and Tifa chuckled before ruffling his hair again.

"Don't worry Denzel, Barret's bigger than everyone," she teased, laughing again as he ducked away from her touch and began smoothing his hair down, scowling.

Marlene sighed, clinging to Cloud's hand. "Tifa?"

Tifa turned, the smile slipping from her face. "Yes sweetie?"

"How much longer till we can all go home?"

Tifa was tempted to reply with the same response as before: '_Not until he gets a lecture!_' Cloud would be in some definite trouble when he finally woke up – Tifa had had a long time to think about what she was going to say, and it was hardly flattering. That is, until she looked at him, and then all her angry words disappeared.

She was alternating between wanting to strangle him for worrying her and the others so much and wanting to kiss him and never let him go. Her face flushed at the second thought, and she determinedly put it out of her mind.

Tifa then smiled and moved back to Cloud's side. "Soon Marlene – the doctors say he should wake up soon," she said pleasantly, unable to resist gently stroking his hair.

"Aww, now that's a picture perfect moment," a cheerful voice chimed in from the door, and the little family turned to see Yuffie grinning at them, hands in a box shape in front of her as though her hand was a camera and she was trying to capture the memory.

Tifa flushed and stepped back from Cloud - who shifted slightly at her movement, though no-one noticed. Yuffie then bounced into the room, her energy fading slightly at seeing Cloud. "Come on Tifa, you need to have lunch with us! Barret's going crazy, the nurses are scared of Nanaki, Cid won't stop smoking, and Vincent's being boring!" she declared, literally starting to drag the surprised martial artist out of the room.

"But...but what about Cloud?" Tifa said helplessly as little hands started to help the ninja.

Yuffie beamed, letting go of her as Marlene and Denzel took over. "Never fear! The White Rose of Wutai is here! I'll watch him for you!"

Tifa blinked, evidently hesitant about this turn of events, but eager children stole her away before she could protest.

The instant Tifa was gone, Yuffie jumped to Cloud's bedside. "I know you're awake," she said in annoyance, jabbing him in the side.

He yelped and glared at her, causing her smirk to widen. "See, I knew it!"

Cloud just glared back, turning his head to look away from her. Yuffie's smile then dropped. "Why are you hiding from Tifa?"

"I'm not hiding."

"Yes you are."

"I am not hiding."

"Yes you are."

Seeing where this was going, Cloud just raised an eyebrow and decided to ignore her.

Yuffie frowned, hands on hips. "She's been really worried you know."

Cloud sighed. "I didn't mean to worry her," he said quietly.

Yuffie then smirked. "Ooh, you're in so much trouble when she finds out you're awake! She's been worried sick about you, and then you run off and nearly get yourself killed, and she's really gonna let you have it!" she declared, grinning cheekily. "But why were you hiding?"

Cloud frowned. "I wanted to let her sleep."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, like she's going to get any sleep in these chairs. Especially when she's all in a tizzy over you! Honestly Cloud, I really don't get you sometimes!" she said in exasperation.

Cloud sighed, wincing slightly at the pain in his chest. "How long?"

Yuffie's grin faded. "Long enough to know that as soon as you're mobile, Tifa is really gonna kick your ass. We've all been taking turns waiting here and looking after the kids, but Tifa hasn't left since we found you Cloud." She then beamed again. "You're in _so_ much trouble!" she continued gleefully.

Cloud merely glared at her. If he could, he would have rolled over to get away from her. As it was, moving was not an option. Yuffie then reached over to ruffle his hair, grinning at his half-horrified, half-exasperated look. "Chocobo-head!" she teased, grin widening at his dark glare.

Yuffie then sat back on the chair behind her, expression unusually serious. "Hey Cloud, you better 'wake up' when she gets back, she's been really worried," she said quietly. "I've never seen her like this."

"Tifa always cares," was his reply. And it was true. Tifa always cared for him and the others when the worst things had happened to them. Mako poisoning had been bad enough – he wouldn't let her watch him waste away again right in front of her. And so he left. And apparently he'd just done the same thing to her all over again anyway – making her watch as he drifted from life to death and back again.

"I know Cloud – she always looks out for everyone," Yuffie continued, looking sad. She then brightened. "You should just kiss her and put her out of her misery!" she declared cheekily, grinning in that evil way only Yuffie could.

If Cloud had been drinking anything at that moment, he would have choked. As it was, his eyes merely bulged with shock. "I didn't hear that," he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut as though that would make her go away.

"Yuffie, what _are_ you doing?" an annoyed voice responded, which made Cloud open his eyes in surprise. Tifa was standing in the doorway, tapping her foot and glaring at the ninja. "He's supposed to be resting and you running around here and yelling isn't...Cloud?" she asked uncertainly, eyes wide as she stared at him.

Cloud blinked. "Tifa," he said softly, lips shifting into a small smile.

Tifa just stared, gripping the door so hard her knuckles had turned white. "You're...you're awake," she whispered, looking anxious.

He nodded. "I'm here," he said quietly, and the two of them might as well have been alone in the room as they stared at each other.

At least, it seemed like they were alone until Yuffie spoke again. "Well, now that that's cleared up, I'm going to tell the others!" she said cheerfully, running past the startled Tifa to screech into the hallway. "HEY! HE'S AWAKE!"

Tifa moved her hand to her head, shaking it in amusement at Yuffie's antics. "You know, you didn't have to shout," she said dryly.

Yuffie raised an eyebrow. "Why not? They heard me, didn't they?"

Cloud sniffed. "The whole building probably heard you," he replied, and Yuffie scowled.

"Whatever. I'm going to go find the others and drag them over here then! Separating the boys from food might be difficult, but I am the Great Yuffie Kisaragi!" she declared, skipping off down the hall. "So you lovebirds better get a move on before they get here!" she called back cheerfully.

Both 'lovebirds' decided to ignore her. Tifa moved over to stand beside Cloud, eyes moving over him anxiously. "Really ok?" she asked quietly.

He nodded. "I'm back Tifa," he repeated, frowning as tears appeared in her eyes. Tifa shouldn't cry. Tifa should never cry. Crying meant something bad and Tifa deserved everything good.

She hastily wiped them away with the back of her hand. "I'm glad," she said earnestly, before smiling brightly. "They helped you, didn't they?" she continued softly, tilting her head to the side.

Cloud's eyebrows rose for a moment, recalling a strange conversation. He then nodded. "Zack and Aerith. They sent me back."

Tifa's smile softened, though her eyes were still shining. "I'm so glad," she said again, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. "Thank you," she whispered, hovering there for a moment before pulling away to look at his suddenly pink face.

Cloud looked up at her, his throat suddenly dry. "Tifa...I..."

"CLOUD!"

Startled, Tifa moved back as two small cannonballs launched themselves across the room at their favourite swordsman. The rest of the group then squeezed themselves into the room, Cid chuckling at the sight of the children clinging to Cloud while trying not to touch any of his injuries.

Yuffie beamed. "I told you!" she cried, jabbing Vincent in the side. "See, he's fine!" Vincent frowned at her, but Yuffie didn't seem to notice.

Tifa stepped back towards the window, smiling as she watched the whole group surround Cloud, the children already pestering him with questions. He was alive, and she was so happy, so thankful. Here was another chance.

A flash of pink caught her eye, and she smiled. "Aerith..." she said softly, looking out the window and up into the sky. _"Somehow, I knew you were there... Thank you."_

Tifa knew she didn't imagine the pleased response. _"You see, everything's alright"_

Tifa bowed her head, still smiling. _"I know." _She then turned to look at all of her friends and family, chuckling briefly at the slightly overwhelmed look on Cloud's face. The children were still gripping him for dear life, Barret was exclaiming about the battle, and Yuffie was bouncing around everywhere, chattering the whole while.

"He's not alone, not anymore," she said aloud, before turning and walking back to hug her family. "_Thank you, thank you so much_." A soft giggle and the shine of the yellow flowers on the windowsill was all the reply she needed.


End file.
